Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Aster hybrida cultivar Esmart.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of cut flower Aster plant, botanically known as Aster hybrida and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Esmartxe2x80x99.
The new Aster is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador. The objective of the breeding program is to create new cut flower Aster cultivars with durable leaves, strong stems, desirable floret colors, and good postproduction longevity.
The new Aster originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador in August, 1999, of a proprietary Aster selection identified as breeding line 13, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with an unknown Aster selection, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Aster was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination grown in a controlled environment in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador. The selection of this plant was based on its durable foliage, strong stems and desirable inflorescence form and ray floret color.
Asexual reproduction of the new Aster by vegetative tip cuttings was first conducted in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador in August, 2000. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Aster are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Esmart has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and/or light level, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Esmartxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Esmartxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cut flower Aster: 
1. Strong erect flowering stems.
2. Symmetrical branching habit.
3. Dark green-colored foliage.
4. Uniform and freely flowering habit.
5. Decorative-type inflorescences with violet-colored ray florets.
6. Good postproduction longevity.
Plants of the new Aster are taller than plants of the female parent selection. In addition, plants of the new Aster differ from plants of the female parent selection in ray floret coloration.
Plants of the new Aster can be compared to plants of the cultivar Cirina, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador plants of the new Aster differed from plants of the cultivar Cirina in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Aster were more vigorous than plants of the cultivar Cirina.
2. Plants of the new Aster had stronger flowering stems than plants of the cultivar Cirina.
3. Plants of the new Aster had larger and darker-green colored leaves than plants of the cultivar Cirina.
4. Plants of the new Aster had larger inflorescences with more ray and disc florets per inflorescence than plants of the cultivar Cirina.
5. Inflorescences of plants of the new Aster had more phyllaries than inflorescences of plants of the cultivar Cirina.
6. Plants of the new Aster had longer peduncles than plants of the cultivar Cirina.
7. Plants of the new Aster and the cultivar Cirina differed in ray floret coloration as plants of the cultivar Cirina had purple violet-colored ray florets.